After the Fukushima disaster in 2011, the nuclear energy market suffered a decade-long decline as many countries throttled or suspended their nuclear expansion plans. But over the past few years, the nuclear market has recovered -- thanks to new decarbonization initiatives, safer reactor technologies, and the growing demand for reliable, efficient power.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the world's nuclear capacity could expand by up to 2.6 times from 2024 to 2050. Therefore, it could be the right time to buy these two nuclear energy stocks: NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR) and GE Vernova (NYSE:GEV).
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NuScale Power
NuScale Power develops small modular reactors (SMRs) that fit in vessels that are only 65 feet high and nine feet wide. They're prefabricated and assembled on site to reduce the time and costs required to construct a nuclear power plant. It's the only SMR maker with Standard Design Approvals (SDAs) from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which approved its 50 MWe reactor design in 2023 and its 77 MWe design in 2025.
NYSE: SMR
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NuScale once planned to deploy six of its 77 MWe SMRs to build a 462 MWe plant in Idaho, but that project collapsed amid soaring costs in 2023. Today, it primarily serves as a subcontractor to Fluor (NYSE:FLR) in its planned construction of a similar 462 MWe plant for Romania's RoPower.
That project recently received its final investment decision (FID) approval, but the first reactors probably won't come online until the early 2030s. For now, it still generates most of its revenue from the front-end engineering and design (FEED) studies for this project.
NuScale also recently returned to the U.S. by agreeing to deploy up to six gigawatts of SMR capacity across seven states for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). However, the first reactors for that ambitious project probably won't be installed until 2032.
With a market cap of $4 billion, NuScale might seem overvalued at 45 times this year's sales. However, analysts expect its annual revenue to more than triple from $88 million in 2026 to $287 million in 2028 as it expands its FEED studies, transitions some of its memorandums of understanding (MOUs) into binding contracts, and licenses its technology to more companies.
That said, the real growth story could start in the next decade when it finally deploys its first SMRs. When that happens, NuScale could expand and evolve into a much larger nuclear company -- so it might be smart to nibble on its stock today before that happens.
GE Vernova
If NuScale seems a bit too speculative, GE Vernova -- the former energy division of GE (NYSE:GE) that was spun off in 2024 -- might be a more balanced bet.
Last year, over half of its total orders came from its Power segment, which produces gas turbines for combined-cycle plants, steam turbines for coal, gas, and nuclear plants, and services for nuclear power plants. Its Electrification business, which accounted for nearly a third of its 2025 orders, sells transformers, breakers, substations, high-voltage direct current systems, and automation, optimization, and protection services for electrical grids.
NYSE: GEV
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Its Power and Electrification businesses both profited from the rapid expansion of the power-hungry cloud, data center, and AI markets over the past year, and that growth offset the slower growth of its smaller Wind business, which sells onshore and offshore wind turbines.
Over the next few years, GE Vernova plans to continue expanding its higher-growth Power and Electrification businesses while right-sizing its weaker Wind business. It definitely isn't a "pure play" nuclear stock like NuScale. Still, it's bigger, better diversified, firmly profitable, and will benefit from the same tech-driven tailwinds for the broader energy market.
From 2025 to 2028, analysts expect GE Vernova's revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to grow at CAGRs of 15% and 54%, respectively. With an enterprise value of $217 billion, it might seem a bit pricey at 38 times this year's adjusted EBITDA -- but its core strengths should justify that higher valuation.
